Corn Dog Batter

1 cup packaged pancake mix (we used krusteaz brand)

2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

3/4 cup water

8 Hot Dogs

Fat for frying

Combine pancake mix, cornmeal, sugar, and chili powder.
Add water and beat well.
Dip franks in batter and drain excess batter over bowl.
In deep skillet add enough fat to make a depth of 1 inch; heat to 375°.
Fry corn dogs, two at a time, for 1 to 2 minutes.
Insert a wooden skewer into one end of each frank.
Drain well on paper toweling.

Pizza Buns

I found this recipe from Colleen's Recipes, and we LOVED it!

You can find her step by step picture tutorial HERE.

DOUGH

¾ cup very warm water

½ cup sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)

¼ cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons sugar

1 large egg (room temperature)

3½ cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons dry active yeast

1 teaspoon salt

"Mix the warm water (hottest out of your tap) with the sweetened condensed milk, vegetable oil and sugar and salt. The hot tap water will cool down in temperature once it is mixed with the oil and milk (so it won't hurt the yeast). Next, whisk in the egg and the yeast. Let this sit for several minutes until the yeast looks well dissolved.

NOTE: When you first mix up this dough, it will seem stiff and dense. Don't let that freak you out...just follow the instructions and it will bake up beautifully.

Once it is well dissolved, mix in the flour (using a stand mixer is easiest) and mix with dough hook on medium speed until smooth (about 5 minutes or so). Place in a bowl sprayed with vegetable spray and cover with plastic wrap. Let this sit in a warm place for an hour or until it is double in size.

Remove from the bowl and cut into 8 pieces (makes 8 sandwiches). Roll each piece out into an 8 inch circle. For pizza filling, put about ¼ cup of cheese in center of circle; top with a little pizza sauce and some toppings.

I found that these were easier to shape if you sit the 8" circle in a cereal bowl before you add the fillings. Draw up the edges of the dough and pinch them together.

This dough is a dream to work with...it stretches without tearing and sticks together beautifully when it comes time to "pinch it shut".

Cover with plastic wrap and let them sit for 20 minutes. Bake in pre-heated 350F oven for 20 minutes. When they come out of the oven, brush them with butter.

NOTE: The fully baked leftovers (full size) reheat, beautifully, in a preheated 350F oven in 20-23 minutes and taste exactly like they did the first time they came out of the oven."

-Colleen

My kids LOVED these. We've made something similar to this before. But what made these different, is the sweetness in the dough. I found a "combo" pizza with all the topping tasted the best. We also tried hot ham, cheese and broccoli, and BBQ chicken and cheese and loved them all! You have to try these!

We made the dough quick and easy by making in our bread machine on the dough cycle.

Sunday Pizza's

1 pkg. yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 T. oil
1 c. warm water
2 1/2 c. flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the remaining ingredients. Beat vigorously about 20 strokes. Allow dough to rest 5 minutes. Roll out onto 1 large pizza pan: add toppings. Bake at 425 for 25-30 minutes.

We enjoy making homemade mini pizza's, but for some reason they always taste better on Sunday after church!

Guymon's Easy Microwave Marshmallow Popcorn

2 bags of microwave popcorn
1/2 c. margarine or butter
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. brown sugar
10-12 large marshmallows

Microwave margarine, brown sugar, and marshmallows on high for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir. Cook for 1 minutes more on high. Add baking soda. Stir and cook for 5 seconds. Stir and pour over popped corn.

Monster Toes & Hot Dog Mummies

1 pkg. Hot Dogs
1 pkg. Biscuit dough or Cresent roll dough
Ketchup /Mustard

For Monster Toes:
Cut hot dogs in half. Wrap dough around hot dog. Bake according to the directions on the back of the biscuit dough or until golden brown. Cut a small "fingernail" in the hot dog. Fill the "fingernail" with ketchup.

For Mummies:
Warp dough around hot dogs. Bake according to the directions on the back of the biscuit dough or until golden brown. Add mustard for the eyes.

Strawberry Yogurt Swirl Pops

From The Hungry Housewife

1 lb strawberries, hulled

1⁄3 cup plus 1⁄4 cup sugar, preferably superfine

2 tsp lemon juice

2 cups vanilla yogurt

You’ll also need:

2 large plastic squeeze bottles,

10 pop molds (1⁄2-cup capacity)

PREPARATION

1. Place strawberries, 1⁄3 cup sugar and lemon juice in blender; purée 3 minutes. Pour into a large plastic squeeze bottle and screw on bottle top.

2. In a medium bowl, stir remaining 1⁄4 cup sugar into yogurt until sugar is dissolved. Pour into the second squeeze bottle and screw on bottle top.

3. Fill each pop mold with strawberry and yogurt mixtures, alternately squeezing or spooning the mixtures into each mold to create a swirled pattern. Place tops on molds; insert wooden sticks. Freeze at least 6 hours until solidly frozen.

4. Remove molds from freezer. Soften slightly at room temperature, about 5 minutes (or dip molds in warm water a few seconds). Remove pops from molds. Serve immediately, or wrap pops separately in plastic wrap, then store in freezer bag or container.

Tip: Large squeeze bottles (2-cup capacity) are available in crafts stores and baking supply stores, sometimes labeled for candy-making. To easily unmold the pops, use a pair of pliers to grip the sticks and gently pull out pops.

Homemade Fruit Leather

2 c. strawberry or raspberry puree
1 c. applesauce (don't use the cheap stuff, splurge and get the good stuff..motts, etc)
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 c. sugar

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Puree berries to make 2 cups. (If using raspberries you can put them through a sieve to remove the seeds.) Add applesauce, lemon juice and sugar. Prepare a jelly roll pan by lining the bottom and sides with plastic wrap. Tape the edges on the side of the pan to keep them in place. Pour the fruit leather mixture into pan and spread evenly. Bake about 5 hours or until leather will pull away from plastic wrap. Let the leather sit out for about an hour. Peel the fruit leather off the plastic wrap. Cut fruit leather into desired size. Re-roll the fruit leather into new plastic wrap. Enjoy!

Yummy! This is a fun recipe to make with your kids. Remember the cooking time takes a while, so be prepared..but it IS well worth the wait.

*The cooking time always varies for me. Sometimes it takes a little longer, sometimes just right. Sometimes the edges get a little crispy and the middle is a little gooey. So trial and error is the key I guess. Even if this happens there is a lot you can still use. Also it won't look as gooey once you let it sit out for that hour.

Pizza Cheese On Toast

Slice of Bread

Shredded Cheese

Pizza or Spaghetti Sauce

Pepperoni or other topping

Spread pizza or spaghetti sauce on top of bread. Sprinkle cheese on top. Add favorite toppings. Broil in oven until toasted and cheese is melted.

Frozen Grapes

Ok, so this isn't the most appetizing picture...but I promise...they are really yummy! Just simply wash your grapes, put them in a zip lock bag, pop them in the freezer, and they next day you have a healthy frozen treat! (My personal favorite are the red sweet grapes...not green sour ones)

Stuffed Crust Pizza

Make your favorite Pizza dough recipe. The dough should hang over the edge of the pizza by about an inch. Add string cheese around the edge of the pan.

Fold the crust over the string cheese and seal. Bake according to your pizza crust recipe directions. Enjoy!

I know there is an authentic "Stuffed Crust Pizza" recipe out there, but we just like to use our own pizza crust recipe and add string cheese. Enjoy!...We did!

Pizza Grilled Cheese

Butter (or margarine)
2 slices of bread
Cheese (Mozzarella is our favorite) (Sliced works best, but shredded will do also)
Pepperoni
Pizza Sauce

Butter one side of each slice of bread. Place one slice in a skillet butter side down. Top with cheese, pepperoni, pizza sauce (about 3 Tbs) and the second bread slice, butter side up. Cook over medium heat until golden brown, turn once. Serve with additional pizza sauce if desired.
(serves 1)

*If you are using shredded cheese and it's not fully melted after it's grilled to golden brown, pop it in the microwave for a few seconds.

Orpple

O.k, so this isn't a very good example of an orpple. It's supposed to be round. Like it's suppsed to fit all together.

Here is the link that can show you how to make this...although I'm sure you're smart enough to figure it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGyhcwINE20

My kids thought these were a fun treat to have in their lunches.

Left Over Rolls

Leftover Rolls

Sandwich meat with cheese, mayo & mustard

(or PB & J)

First of all I can't believe we had left over rolls! We devour them!

My kids absolutely LOVED these rolls. They were so excited when I made them these mini sandwiches on rolls in their lunches. Gotta try them.

Yummy Playdough

***This is called yummy playdough because of the smell, NOT the taste!***

1 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. salt

1 Tbsp. powdered alum (white powder substance, found in the spice section. Almost like Cream of tartar)

3 Tbsp. Oil

1 c. boiling water

2 pkgs. flavored Kool-Aid

Mix dry ingredients together. Add water, oil, and kool-Aid to pan to boil. Mix all ingredients together. Remember that the mixture will be hot. Once it cools a little let your kids help knead the dough. Store in a tightly covered container or in a plastic bag.

Addi made this all by herself with the exception of the boiling water. Her favorite part was deciding what flavor to have her playdough. I have to admit, the smell almost makes you want to EAT it! But don't okay?

We mixed the playdough in our kitchen aid and it did a awesome job!

Holiday Sandwiches

Make a sandwich of your choice (PB &J, Ham & Cheese, Tuna, etc...). Find a cookie cutter that apply's to the current holiday, and press the cookie cutter on top of the sandwich. Remove excess crust. Enjoy!

*When I put these in my kids lunches, there was a mixed reaction. Addi was so excited. Hunter acted excited on the outside, but on the inside Hunter was trying to figure out a way not to hurt my feelings, and figure out a way to somehow shape his heart into something else...I guess he's all grown up now!!

Adah's Hot Pizza Dip

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded fresh Parmesan cheese
1 can (8 ounces) pizza sauce (or spaghetti sauce)

*Optional: Peperoni Slices, chopped green bell pepper, green onion slices

In a bowl combine cream cheese and Italian seasoning; spread onto bottom of 8" microwavable dish. In small bowl, combine mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella cheese mixture over cream cheese mixture. Spread pizza sauce over mozzarella cheese mixture; sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella cheese mixture. Microwave for 2-3 minutes on high. Serve with crackers or bread pieces. Enjoy!

*O.K., so this isn't Adah's EXACT recipe, but it's close. She is one of those, add a little of this, and a little of that type of cooks. (The kind I wish I could be like).

*This is a kids favorite. It is quick and easy, and It really tastes like pizza!